Watch On
Northrop Grumman’s robotic Cygnus freighter will arrive on the Worldwide Area Station (ISS) early Tuesday morning (Aug. 6), and you’ll watch the rendezvous dwell.
The Cygnus, which launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday (Aug. 4), is scheduled to be captured by the station’s robotic arm on Tuesday at 3:10 a.m. (0710 GMT).
You’ll be able to watch the motion dwell right here at Area.com, courtesy of NASA. Protection will start Tuesday at 1:30 a.m. EDT (0530 GMT).
This Cygnus — named the S.S. Richard “Dick” Scobee, after the commander of the tragic STS-51-L mission of the house shuttle Challenger — is carrying almost 8,200 kilos (3,720 kilograms) of meals, scientific gear and different provides to the ISS.
Associated: Details about Cygnus, Northrop Grumman’s cargo ship
Among the many experiments is Rotifer-B2, which can examine how spaceflight impacts DNA restore mechanisms within the rotifer species Adineta vaga. Â
“These tiny however complicated organisms are recognized for his or her means to resist harsh situations, together with radiation doses 100 occasions increased than human cells can survive,” NASA officers wrote in an outline of the present cargo mission, which is called NG-21, as a result of it is the twenty first ISS flight for a Cygnus automobile.
Rotifer-B2 “may enhance the overall understanding of DNA harm and restore mechanisms for functions on Earth,” they added.
The S.S. Richard “Dick” Scobee hasn’t had a wonderfully easy trip to the ISS thus far. Shortly after deploying from the Falcon 9’s higher stage on Sunday, the freighter missed a deliberate engine burn. The Cygnus then aborted the rescheduled burn 50 minutes later after detecting barely lower-than-expected stress readings.
However Northrop Grumman engineers evaluated the information and confirmed that the stress readings have been acceptable in spite of everything, NASA officers introduced in an replace in the present day (Aug. 5). Cygnus has now carried out two engine burns and is on target for its ISS rendezvous, they added.Â